In his comments, the minister, who is serving as Swiss president this year under the country's rotating presidency system, noted that the US is, alongside the EU, Switzerland’s most important trading partner.

The partnership between the two countries should now be made concrete within the framework of a free trade agreement, Maurer said.

Schneider-Ammann managed to meet with an official representing Lighthizer but came away saying that talks towards any possible free trade agreement were still very much in the “exploratory stage”.

Among the stumbling blocks is the agriculture issue, according to Swiss daily Tages Anzeiger. There are concerns that the US could force Switzerland to allow genetically modified products, which would be problematic for the Alpine country.

There is currently a moratorium on genetically modified crops in Switzerland.

However, the upper house of the Swiss parliament in December said urged the Swiss government to pursue a free trade agreement or a preferential trade agreement with the US.

A 2006 attempt to forge such a Swiss–US trade agreement failed over Swiss government concerns in the face of the powerful US agricultural sector.

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